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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27206416">Shinzou wo sasageyo</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/lizzyfox/pseuds/lizzyfox'>lizzyfox</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Ending, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Deviates From Canon, Erwin knows the truth, Gen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 08:22:01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,604</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27206416</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/lizzyfox/pseuds/lizzyfox</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>What if Erwin Smith had discovered the secrets of the outside world? What if he had finally achieved his dream?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Shinzou wo sasageyo</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hi! I warn you English isn't my mother tongue. Probably there are many mistakes in the work but I really wanted to share my Erwin's alternate ending with you.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Three loud gunshots rang out, and then the smoke of signal flares flew into the air. The smell of gunpowder evoked unpleasant memories. Everyone remembered their fallen comrades on the battlefield. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Startled crows flew up from the trees and scattered, cawing in displeasure. All the soldiers and officers who presented at the farewell ceremony with Erwin Smith saluted. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Historia was going between the ranks of soldiers. A tiara glittered on her head, creating sunbeams that made it seems as if it was radiating the light itself. Despite all the persuasions to wear a dress, as befits a queen on special occasions, she was in the uniform of the Survey Corps. Today Historia did not want to stand out. Today she is a soldier who once also risked his life to save mankind. It was only because of Levi's advice that she finally agreed to wear the tiara. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She stood on the small platform that had been set up for today's ceremony and waved her hand smoothly. The soldiers dropped their hands. All except Hange, Levi, and his squad. They continued to hold their hand over their hearts. After a short pause, Historia began her speech.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>***</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The wind carried the smell of burning all over Shiganshina, and black smoke was slowly spreading out, blackening the roofs of houses. The district was in ruins, with only a handful of houses near the walls completely intact. In the centre of the town the last of the scouts were sitting on the roof of an undamaged house. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Eren reached out to Levi, asking him to give the serum. He gasped for air to hold back the lump in his throat.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Please, captain. Armin is still breathing. He has a chance to live on.” Eren clung to Levi's arm and begged him to save his friend. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Mikasa stood behind Levi and held the blades in her hands. At any moment she was ready to attack the captain and take away the serum.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jean, Connie, and Sasha stood on the edge of the roof and did not understand what was happening. Battered from battle, they could barely stand on their feet. The uniforms were muddy and bloodstained, and their green cloaks were a useless piece of fabric. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Captain, I beg you. Please, save Armin!” Eren cried out. He couldn't handle his emotions any more, tears streaming down his cheeks.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Stop, Yeager,” Levi pulled his hand away from Eren, who was irritating and pushed him away.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Mikasa leaned forward sharply, but Hange caught her by the shoulder and shook her head.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Levi did not dare do anything. He stared at the sky waiting to see smoke from the signal flare. He hoped Erwin was alive. He couldn’t just die. After so many expeditions, injuries and even after losing his arm, Erwin Smith kept fighting for humanity. Fight for a dream to explore the outside world and its secrets. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Captain was looking up at the sky beyond the wall above a field littered with the corpses of recruits, and Erwin was among them.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>*** </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“...He dedicated his heart for mankind. We will honour his memory for the rest of our lives.” Historia finished her speech, her voice trembling, and tears came down. She wiped it away, it was not proper for a queen to show her emotions in front of her subjects. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>More gunfires rang out. After each shot, the name of each fallen soldier in Shiganshina were mentioned. When the shots stopped, the cemetery was silent again.   </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>After the ceremony, Historia stood near the grave of Erwin with his friends. They stared at the tombstone in silence. No one decided to break the silence.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Erwin Smith. 817 - 850. The man who gave his heart for a dream.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Everyone knew that the funeral were a mere formality to show their respect because the grave was empty. Erwin’s dead body were at Shiganshina. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>*** </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Levi, he’s not coming.” Hange went over to Levi and put a hand on his shoulder. “I don’t think anyone of them could survive. We still have a chance to save Armin.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Levi gave the order and casually tossed the case to Eren. “All of you, go to the next roof.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As Erwin had said before the mission, it's up to Levi to decide who gets the power of the titan. He was sure that the commander of the Survey Corps would have made the same decision. Erwin wouldn’t have clung to an invisible thread of hope.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>After Armin’s transformation the squad were sitting on the roof they heard the noise of tiles breaking, and a second later the man appeared. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Flock climbed up on the roof, panting, carrying Erwin Smith on his back. Both were coated with blood and mud.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There was blood on his face, and a fresh red trickle ran down his temple from a fresh wound. His eyes darted from side to side, and he looked as if he had seen a monster worse than titans.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“He’s still alive, captain. We can use the serum.” Floch was breathing heavily from the cargo. His strength was already running out. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Floch carefully placed Erwin’s body on his back. His own body immediately became heavy, and he fell to his knees. He looked around at the survivors, and then his gaze settled on Armin. There were marks on his face, and he had seen them before. These were the marks Eren had when he'd got out of the titan's body.   </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m late, aren’t I?” Floch said, looking from the unconscious Armin to Levi.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Levi stepped forward and held out a shaking hand gasping for air. Hange sat down next to Erwin, examined his wounds, and checked his breathing. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>H</span>
  <span>e was lucky being unconscious, otherwise every movement would have caused him unbearable pain. Perhaps even when he was unconscious, pain shot through him from every movement, but he couldn't tell them.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Levi lost no time in taking action.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We're taking him with us. Me, Eren, Mikasa, and you, Hange. The rest of you, move Armin onto the wall and wait for us, while we go to the Yeager house.” No one moved. "What are we standing for? Go!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The captain's voice roused the squad, and they began to lift Armin. Two bodies were thrown on their backs, one on Jean's back and the other on Levi's. The difference between them was only in lifespan.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>***  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You know, I’ve been thinking a lot about what happened in Shiganshina.” Armin broke silence.” “If Floch had come earlier. Well, before you…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He paused, pressing his head into his shoulders, and hesitated to finish. Although he clearly understood that he would not have been chosen. Erwin Smith's life is much more valuable. Armin did not have the same combat experience, did not know how to react without hesitation in an emergency. Even in the first battle with the titan, when Eren saved him from being eaten.    </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Floch was late. That’s it. I don't see the need to talk about it.” Levi replied with his usual apathetic manner and looked off into the distance.    </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Everyone looked at him, but he ignored them, still thinking his own business.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Did he regret what had happened? Of course. And he wasn't the only one who were thinking of it, just no one dared to voice their thoughts.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>*** </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Levi leaned Erwin against the wall and left him in the care of Hange, who had already suffered enough damage during the fight.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The basement met the guests unfriendly, not wanting to reveal its secrets. Time seemed to stand still here. It looked untouched, as if someone was still keeping an eye on it, only a small layer of dust on the furniture indicated otherwise. Levi ran a finger along the surface of the shelf and snorted.   </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Eren felt as if his father was about to come down here and tell him off for breaking in without permission.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They had to make an effort to find ‘the secret’ of Grisha Yeager. He had clearly planned everything, fearing for the safety of the diaries. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hange, he'll hear if we read it to him, won't he?” Eren squeezed the Dad’s diary in his hands and looked at Erwin. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span> It was as if he had just fallen asleep after a gruelling battle, but only the dark stain of blood spreading across his stomach told him that he didn't have much time left. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I think so. Yes. He’ll hear us.” Hange tried to smile but immediately  reached for her damaged eye, writhing in pain. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They sat around the commander. Eren opened the first page and looked around the squad. Erwin's hand twitched, as if he was trying to signal that he was still here with them.   </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You may start, Eren.” Hange gently squeezed the commander’s hand. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span> Maybe he really heard them, just the last of his strength were spent on maintaining life in him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Eren began to read. While he was reading a page after a page to the end, nobody interrupted him. Sometimes Hange exclaimed in her typical way, trying to get up from her seat, but under Levi's sullen gaze, she held back.    </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That's it, the last page.” Eren put down the diary and took the second one from Mikasa's hand.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Erwin, your father was right. There’re people outside the walls” Levi said. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They looked up at Erwin. His lips were parted in a half-smile, and a tear glistened on his cheek. He wasn’t breathing. </span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>***  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The wind shook the flowers on the grave, ripping off the white petals. A figure in a green cloak on horseback appeared on the horizon for just a moment, but the wind immediately dispelled the mirage, carrying it away.  </span>
</p>
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